Insect trap



H. L. NIEMEYER INSECT TRAP April 5, 1938.

Filed Feb. 25, 1955 INVENTOR. Henry L; N/emeye/r BY W ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 5, 1938 UNITED STATES INSECT TRAP Henry L. Niemeyer, Elizabeth, N. J. Application February 25, 1935, Serial No. 7,989

6 Claims.

This invention relates to insect traps and more particularly to the kind which are provided with an attracting device about which are arranged several baiile plates by which the flight of the insect or bug is broken to cause it to drop into a receptacle arranged beneath the bafile plates.

A feature of the invention relates to the means of securing the attracting device, baille plates and receptacle to each other so that they may be supported as a unit by a hook to suspend the trap a distance above the ground.

Another feature of the invention relates to the construction of the baffle plates so as to render them highly efiicient for the purpose of reflecting the light of the attracting device which is herein shown as a lamp.

A further feature of the invention relates to the manner of attaching the bafile plates to their supporting arms.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing which forms fication,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the device showing it suspended'from a suitable hook;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the manner of securing the baffle plate to its supporting arm.

Similar reference characters represent similar parts throughout the several views.

The device includes a roof 5, to the under side of which is attached an attracting device 6 which is herein shown as comprising an incandescent lamp comprising a bulb 7, to attract nocturnal insects. The bulb is secured in a socket 8 attached to the roof by means of bolts 9, and nuts l0.

Arms H are secured, at their upper ends in any convenient manner, to the roof and extend downwardly and outwardly therefrom. The lower ends I2 of the arms extend under the rim l3 of a funnel M to which they are secured to support the latter under the bulb 'l.

The insect, after being attracted by the light, tends to fly around the bulb I and close to it. The flight however is broken by any one of a plurality of bafile plates !5 each extending inwardly from the one of the funnel supporting arms II. When the flight of the insect is broken it drops into the funnel I4 and is thereby deposited into a jar IS, the jar being screwed into a cap or cover I! which cover is secured to the part of the specilower end l8 of the funnel I4, said lower end 18 extending a short distance through the cap I! to make it difiicult for the bug to'crawl outof the jar, thus trapping the insect or bug.

By an inspection of Figs. 1 and 3, it will be noticed that each baflle plate l5 has a portion l5 bent around the arm H and that it is secured thereto by a series of pointed members or nubs l5 each extending into an individual depression I5 in the arm I I, these members and depressions being formed by any suitable tool such, for example, as a center punch. This is done after the folded end l5 of the baffle plate has been placed around the arm II. It will be understood that by securing the baffle plates I5 to their arms in this manner they are not only held thereon against detachment therefrom but are also held against sliding longitudinally thereon.

The bafile plates [5 also serve as reflectors of the light rays emanating from the bulb l, and the herein disclosed baffle plates are especially constructed and placed in the device so as to more effectively reflect the light rays. To this end each baflle plate I5 is arranged with respect to the bulb 1 so that a vertical plane extending in the general direction of the bafile plate makes an acute angle with a vertical plane extending radially from the bulb through the supporting arm I l. Each bafile plate I5 is also corrugated so as to present two curved surfaces It! and so, each surface reflecting some of the light rays in opposite direction to those reflected by the other surface. The angular ranges of light rays reflected from the surfaces l9 and 20 are indicated by B and C respectively, and the angular range of the direct light rays emanating fromthe bulb and extending between the baflle plates is indicated by A.

It will be understood that the'device may be set on the ground but it is desirable to have it some distance from the ground. It is therefore provided at its upper end with a handle 2! attached to the roof 5 by S-shaped hooks 22, and by which handle the device or trap may be suspended from a hook 23 herein shown as formed at the upper end of a stake 24 which may be driven into the ground. Conductors 25 and 26 are connected at their ends to binding posts on the socket 8. The opposite ends of said conductors may be connected to a suitable plug by which they may be connected to a power supply line.

Having thus described the invention it will be PATENT oFFi-cg understood that changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit thereof as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A plurality of bafiie plates for use in an insect trap having a lamp, and a receptacle beneath it and the bafile plates, each baffle plate being bent so as to present portions of its two opposite faces to the light rays of the lamp to reflect the light in opposite directions from each baflle plate.

2. A plurality of baflle plates for use in an insect trap having a lamp and a receptacle, the baffle plates being arranged about said lamp and above the receptacle, each baffle plate being bent and the general plane of each baffle plate being tangent to a circle about the axis of the lamp so as to cause the bent portions to reflect the light rays from the lamp in opposite directions.

3. A bafile plate for use in an insect trap having a lamp and a receptacle beneath it, the baffle plate having two surfaces, a portion of one of its surfaces being angularly disposed with reference to a portion of the other and with reference to the rays of light from the lamp so as to refleet the light from the lamp in opposite directions.

4. A bafile plate for use in an insect trap having a lamp and a receptacle beneath it, a supporting bar for each baffle plate, one edge of said baffle plate being bent to fit around said bar to embrace it, and nubs on said bent end extending into depressions in said bar to hold the baffle plate on said bar.

5. In an insect trap, the combination with a lamp, of a plurality of baffle plates arranged about said lamp, each baflie plate being bent throughout its length to present, at different distances from the lamp, a portion of each surface thereof to reflect the light rays from the lamp in opposite directions.

6. In an insect trap, the combination with a lamp, of a plurality of baflie plates arranged about said lamp and equally spaced from each other, each baffle plate being bent to present to the light rays of the lamp, a portion of each surface thereof, each portion to reflect the light rays of the lamp in a direction opposite to that of the other portion and through the spaces between said bafiie plate and the adjacent baffle plate without obstruction by said adjacent bafiie plate.

HENRY L. NIEMEYER. 

